Understood
by bandgrad2008
Summary: They're doomed to face their fate of eternal unhappiness. Implied Chamberlake.


**Disclaimer: Nah, I don't own Secret Circle.**

**A/N: Okay, I tried, I seriously tried to make this Cassie/Diana, BUT the Chamberlake shipper in me didn't want me to write that. So...yeah, guess. I've actually been working on this one for a while, but now it's finally finished so it can be read. Yeah? Yeah. **

**Enjoy.**

The door slams. Glass shatters. Shouts break the silence.

And she stands there alone, waiting, wishing that this was not happening, not right now. She never should have come here, to answer to him, knowing that he'd be drunk or high or whatever he was doing. That's not what bothers her.

No, what bothers her is the fact that he's been calling her by the wrong name all night. He thinks she's someone else, someone who _should_ be here instead of her, someone who should be dealing with him. But even so, she wouldn't allow him to hurt Cassie like this. He isn't himself, and that's what bothers her.

But what was she supposed to do? Step aside and let her come to him? Let him hurt Cassie…_destroy_ her, and everything they have? No…She could never do that. She knows him better than anyone, and _this…_this isn't him.

If Cassie came here, he'd hurt her physically, emotionally, and probably even mentally, and that shouldn't happen. Things would escalate and none of them would be safe, not when Cassie harnesses dark magic, when the smallest thing can set her off. And in the state of mind that Adam's in…anything could and would be the problem.

She sighs, turning to face the door, finding Adam there, bottle in one hand, his face twisted like some demon, drunk and violent. He's been like this for weeks now, drinking bottle after bottle, barely sober long enough to go to school. She's surprised he hasn't been expelled for being intoxicated, but this is Adam. As long as Brunswick was principal, he would make the rules and even though what Adam was doing was completely against the school policy and definitely against the law, he let Adam stay. He didn't even bother him.

It didn't make any sense, that Brunswick was letting Adam get away with a lot and punishing the others, making an exceptional effort to make Cassie suffer more than the rest of them. But what were they supposed to do? He's in charge.

Doug and Chris had been forming a plan with Cassie for the past few days, but they hadn't come up with anything solid…or anything Faye wouldn't find out about and run off to tell Black John. Faye had been spending an unusual amount of time with Cassie, although it still wasn't a lot. And whenever Faye left Cassie, Cassie was different, almost…drained. Diana was sure it was nothing to be worried about, but she couldn't stop her concern.

Nick had been distant lately, as if seeing Cassie and Faye together made him uneasy. And in a way, it did. It was as though he knew something no one else did, but knowing Nick, it would be something he took to his grave.

Diana focused on the task at hand, dealing with a drunken Adam. He was slumped against the wall now, almost passed out, but Diana knew better. He was pretending, feigning, so that she would go to him and he would hit her or something. It had happened before. And even though Adam and Diana were still together, he thought she was Cassie, he wanted to be with Cassie, but Diana knew that would never happen. Cassie had more or less told Diana that she was never going to be interested in Adam and that this silver string legend was just that…a legend. Adam seemed to be more hung up on the theory than Cassie, and that didn't make any sense. He had Diana. He had _always_ had Diana. And he probably always would.

But Diana was beginning to question all of these years of being with Adam. She didn't see him like she used to, with that love and undeniable loyalty to him. He wasn't loyal, though, not if he was off kissing an uninterested Cassie when the only girl he should be kissing was Diana. That didn't even seem real anymore, Diana didn't even feel anything anymore, and she was spending more time asking herself if this was really worth it. Unfortunately, if she didn't, who would?

"_You're not…You don't hate me, do you?" the brunette asked, staring out across the ocean. Diana glanced at her and shook her head. "I don't want you to hate me. Adam and I…we're not together. There's nothing there. And I don't want you to think there is because honestly, Adam's the last person in the world I would ever be with."_

_She's so sincere that Diana's caught off-guard, wondering why Cassie would even bother bringing this up. She had a feeling that Cassie didn't like Adam that way, from every glance she risked, from her short answers when he asked her something. But there was something else, something that Cassie wasn't saying, and it was eating Diana inside out. She wanted to ask, but if Cassie wanted her to know, she'd tell her._

Only she didn't. At least, she didn't say anything. The last time Diana had physically seen her was at school yesterday, and Cassie had been talking to Faye about something. And then Diana realized what Cassie was hiding. She understood why the brunette was always different after her conversations with Faye, why she hadn't fought Faye. There was never a time she had actually told Faye off.

How could she do that when her lips were glued to the wicked girl's, Diana's _cousin_, of all people?

She should have been able to piece all of the clues together, but she hadn't even thought about it. Everything made sense. Cassie's attitude toward Adam was because she didn't want him; she had someone else, someone who was less than kind toward her. But how could Cassie possibly have any feelings for Faye? How _could_ you like someone who treated you as if you were their servant, less than the dirt beneath their feet?

Why couldn't she have felt something for Diana?

"She'll never love you," Adam mumbled, and she stared at him. "The way you look at her…She's never going to love you back. It sucks, doesn't it? When you want something, but you're never going to have it because it isn't what they want." She opened her mouth to speak, but he continued. "She loves Faye. She _lives_ for Faye. And she's hurting everyone around her because of it. You love her, Nick loves her, I love her. And the only person she even cares about is Faye." His eyes meet hers. "It doesn't make sense."

But it does. The silver bond that Adam believed in, he could see it, but it wasn't between Cassie and him. It was between Cassie and Faye. And for him to know that, for him to realize that she's never going to be his because she belongs to _her_, kills him inside. It kills Diana, piece by piece, and she's sure that it does the same to Nick.

They're doomed to face a fate worse than death, an eternal unhappiness and longing and _desire_, and it burns them.


End file.
